Physiological and morphological responses to water stress in Aegilops biuncialis and Triticum aestivum genotypes with differing tolerance to drought
István Molnár A E , László Gáspár B , Éva Sárvári B , Sándor Dulai C , Borbála Hoffmann D , Márta Molnár-Láng A and Gábor Galiba AA Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Brunszvik u. 2, H-2462, Martonvásár, Hungary.
B Department of Plant Physiology, Eötvös University, Pázmány P. sétány 1 / C, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary.
C Department of Plant Physiology and Botany, Eszterházy College, H-3301, POB 43, Eger, Hungary.
D Georgikon Faculty of Agriculture University of Veszprém, Keszthely, Hungary.
E Corresponding author. Email: imolnar@mail.mgki.hu
Functional Plant Biology 31(12) 1149-1159 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP03143
Submitted: 23 July 2003 Accepted: 8 October 2004 Published: 8 December 2004
Abstract
The physiological and morphological responses to water stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) or by withholding water were investigated in Aegilops biuncialis Vis. genotypes differing in the annual rainfall of their habitat (1050, 550 and 225 mm year–1) and in Triticum aestivum L. wheat genotypes differing in drought tolerance. A decrease in the osmotic pressure of the nutrient solution from –0.027 to –1.8 MPa resulted in significant water loss, a low degree of stomatal closure and a decrease in the intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) in Aegilops genotypes originating from dry habitats, while in wheat genotypes high osmotic stress increased stomatal closure, resulting in a low level of water loss and high Ci. Nevertheless, under saturating light at normal atmospheric CO2 levels, the rate of CO2 assimilation was higher for the Aegilops accessions, under high osmotic stress, than for the wheat genotypes. Moreover, in the wheat genotypes CO2 assimilation exhibited less or no O2 sensitivity. These physiological responses were manifested in changes in the growth rate and biomass production, since Aegilops (Ae550, Ae225) genotypes retained a higher growth rate (especially in the roots), biomass production and yield formation after drought stress than wheat. These results indicate that Aegilops genotypes, originating from a dry habitat have better drought tolerance than wheat, making them good candidates for improving the drought tolerance of wheat through intergeneric crossing.
Keywords: Aegilops biuncialis, CO2 fixation, drought tolerance, stomatal conductance, wheat.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Wheat Consortium 4 / 38 / 2001 and by OTKA grants T043 120 and T043 502. We also wish to thank László Stéhli for his excellent technical assistance and Géza Kovács for his help in the statistical analysis.
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